Was your New Year’s resolution to get healthier? I know it’s not easy to stick to new goals when you’re balancing work and family life. But still, there’s hope.

Stick at least with one, for example to eat healthier snacks or desserts. These orange date truffles are not only delicious, they are full of protein. Hemp seeds (or powder) provide a rich source of gluten-free protein loaded with essential fatty acids and fiber. In addition, hemp seeds contains vitamins such as C, E, B1, B2 and carotene, which are in a fat soluble digestible form and trace minerals such as phosphorous, calcium, potassium and magnesium. The protein in walnuts provides many essential amino acids. Also the form of vitamin E found in walnuts is somewhat unusual, and particularly beneficial.

This is the way Adam eats these truffles: he never eats a whole one, he prefers to have small bites from each.

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Thanks to Fiji Water to sponsor this partner post about “Perfection Takes Time”. All the opinions written in this post are my own.

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It takes a lot of time to make the perfect gnocchi… at least for me. Especially if the cute, little gnocchis are two colored: red from the beet and yellow from the potato. Aren’t they beautiful?

When I was thinking what to “create” for this campaign, gnocchi came to my mind. Whenever I make gnocchi, it takes a lot of relaxing time, persistence and patience to roll the dough into the perfect “ropes” on a lightly floured surface. I think a dish that takes time to make, deserves a simple serving… I tossed these two colored little potato pillows with extra virgin olive oil and topped with shaved Pecorino, a pinch of freshly grated black pepper and you are in heaven.

On a Saturday or Sunday morning if the weather is gloomy and cloudy, go to the kitchen and make these delicate, light gnocchi. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy… but the end result… oh my, yum!

Fiji Water trickles down through the layers of volcanic rock over time and gathers minerals and electrolytes along the way that create Fiji’s soft smooth taste – slow cooking and baking often brings out the most amazing flavors and scents of almost any ingredient. This process is what the “Perfection Takes Time” campaign is all about. The fact that sometimes, slower is better.

I learnt this recipe from a Hungarian chef, Viktor Segal who I tested a recipe for his first cookbook for.

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I met the Heroes of Responsible Dining at spring time. They are a group of four friends and a couple of volunteers who believe that saving the environment can be fun! With the Heroes of Responsible Dining initiative they aim to promote responsible choices when eating out or at home. The campaign is organized by the Hungarian non-profit organization Ökológiai Evolúció Alapítvány.

They started a new campaing a few weeks ago about getting to know more and shaking hands with your farmer. Knowing your farmer isn’t about distance, it’s about relationships. Talk to them at the local farmers market, ask them about the vegetables and fruits – where they are from and how they are grown/produced. This is a great way to find out their growing practices and policies.

Thanks to this campaing I had the opportunity to visit one of my favourite organic farmers, Mátyás Nemes and his family in Fülöpjakab. Hungary. It was educational and so much fun for me and I really feel like I get so much out of meeting my favourite farmer and visiting his farm. On the farm horticultural activities are carried out all the year round, by applying the methods of vegetative growing in green-houses of foil with minimum heating, and cold forcing of the plants in green-houses of foil. Hardy plants are grown on the fields from early spring to late autumn. Some 70-80 plant varieties are produced in a year, mostly for sale on the market of organic products.

Know your farmer, know your food!

Mangalica breeding at a nearby farm (mangalica is an indigenous species of pig in Hungary)

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In the last few years we traveled to Tuscany a few times – thanks to our friends, Giulia’s and Emiko’s invitations – but I didn’t write about these experiences on my blog. Two years ago we spent a few days in Cecina with our dear foodie friends: Emiko, Giulia, Karin and Regula.

Cooking together with friends is always so much fun and it’s a great way to learn something new. I gained so much inspirations from these trips, I learnt many new recipes so I would like to share a few of them with you (step by step). The first one is bruschetta… one of the best ways to enjoy the bounty of summer. A delicious and easy appetizer that captures the flavors of ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, and good quality olive oil.

I’m so sad because it looks like summer is really over here in Hungary… We can still buy sun-ripened tomatoes at the markets so until the season is over make sure to make tomato bruschetta at least once!

Tomato Bruschetta
(Recipe: from Giulia’s second cookbook, I Love Toscana)

Put the chopped tomatoes into a large bowl, season with salt and pepper, the chopped garlic and basil, plus add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Make this well in advance, allowing a few hours to let the tomatoes infuse the flavour. Leave the bowl covered in the fridge.

If you are ready to serve the bruschetta, spoon the tomatoes over slices of toasted bread. Drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil.

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I don’t remember when I heard about Whole Foods Market for the first time but it was a while ago. I knew I had to visit at least one store as soon as I can. This waited until June, 2014 when I traveled to London to Food Blogger Connect conference. To make the story short I visited a few stores in London and of course my favorite one was the Kensington High Street one.

At 80,000 square feet, the Kensington home is the largest of the 5 London shops, indeed the largest in the world, which means that they can offer you more of the things that you love. Features within their foodie heaven: coffee and juice bar; in-house restaurant venues including pizza & calzones, wok station, texas BBQ, burritos, & tacos with vegetarian and vegan options; omlette station with your choice of veggies and cheeses; made in-store pastries, breads, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and sweet bars; 3 salad bars, one hot bar and one soup bar with hundreds of meal choices; all-natural and organic produce; etc.